Queen Alia International airport in Jordan deploys a mission-critical professional mobile radio network using Zinwave technology for private mobile radio (TETRA) coverage
Located 35 kilometres from the heart of the capital Amman, QAIA was first inaugurated in 1983 to become Jordan’s key gateway to the world. The airport served 6.2 million passengers in 2012, in addition to providing air cargo and other aviation support services.
In November 2007, Airport International Group (AIG), under the terms of the 25-year concession agreement became the Jordanian company responsible for the operation of Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), the rehabilitation of its old facilities, and the construction of the new passenger terminal. AIG’s total capital commitment is US$850m
The new Foster + Partners- designed terminal, which has recently been inaugurated under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah is a modern facility introducing state of the art equipment, including overhauling the airport’s entire communications infrastructure.
Queen Alia International Airport is the first airport in the MENA region to deploy SITA interfaces across all IT and telecommunications services. SITA, a global specialist in air transport communication and IT solutions, was selected to supply many of the required airport IT solutions. In turn, SITA selected Zinwave’s distributed antenna system (DAS), the System 3000, because of its flexibility and its ability to support multiple services and frequencies on a single hardware layer, making it completely future-proof thought the airport.
Zinwave’s DAS is providing TETRA coverage in all areas within the airport, including the passenger and cargo terminals, all service corridors, apron facilities, car parks, bus stations and all underground facilities, such as the telecoms and maintenance rooms.
Its simple design meant that SITA could discretely install the remote units around the terminal that make up the roofing structure, without impacting on the building’s overall appearance, in line with the architects’ vision. The system’s cabling (which is primarily fibre-optic) was also discretely incorporated into the building’s architecture without impacting its visual appearance.
About Zinwave:
Zinwave’s system 3000 is unique as it is the only truly wideband DAS on the market, supporting all frequencies between 150 and 2700 MHz. Its design is able to accommodate a single or dual-star architecture and is made up of four basic components, a service module, an optical module, a hub chassis, and a number of remote units.
Zinwave’s DAS utilises fibre-optic cabling, so there is minimal loss in terms of signal output, regardless of the distances between the different components, and onsite coverage tests confirmed this. The tests also demonstrated that lower signals and power inputs were needed, which enabled SITA overcome the various concerns and secure the competitive commercial TETRA license.
